Humankind as a Steward?

Published 20 Jan 2017

The essay humans are the highest form of animals. Humans have the capability to think and differentiate what is right from what is wrong. This made us above any other animals. With this, humans are given the responsibility to take care of the earth. Humankind serves as stewards of the Earth but what humankind is currently doing is, we are acting like destroyers of the Earth.

Through the years, man has been living and utilizing the resources of the Earth. It has provided us with food and shelter and a beautiful environment to live in. decades ago, humankind and its environment has been living in equilibrium, humans being the stewards of the environment that they are living in. But with the increasing knowledge of humans, this equilibrium started to change. Instead of being the stewards, humankind has become protagonist is destroying the balance between nature and people.

The increasing knowledge of humans has lead to destruction of many animals, ecosystems and environment. Many animals have gone extinct due to men’s actions. The steller sea cow for instance became extinct because man hunted them for their meat and skin. The hunters ate the meat of the sea cow while the skin is used as boat covers and shoe leather. After 30 years of discovery, during 1768, the steller sea cow became extinct (Steller Sea Cow, 2007). During those years, these hunters already know that the steller sea cow is harmless as it only feeds on algae but then, they still continue to take advantage of the harmless creature (Steller Sea Cow, 2007).

Furthermore, the increasing population of humankind has caused us to be destroyers from becoming stewards. The high competition among humankind has wiped away our responsibilities of being stewards. Instead, it made us destroyers of our environment. High demand for food and the increasing knowledge and abilities of humans has caused us to destroy and kill many organisms. In a documentary film about dolphin hunting in Japan, it showed that the Japanese hunters have device a way wherein they can attract the dolphins. They make sounds in the water using rods to disturbed the dolphin’s sonar and when the dolphins are disrupted and are already in their nets, they use spear thrust and knife slash to kill the dolphins (Dolphin Massacre, 2007).

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Elevated needs for shelter have caused many animals and plants to be displaced of their native land. Because of the increasing population of humankind, housing projects have gone from the urban areas to rural areas eliminating forests ecosystems that provide a good habitat for many organisms. This again shows, that because of our needs, humans have become a destroyer.

Many environmental issues such the global warming and climate change, extinction of animals, depletion of rainforests, destruction of coral reefs, and many more can all be linked to human activities. With this, can humankind still be called stewards? If we continue to do these things then, we are not worth to be stewards but if we change are actions and let our mind work to remind us that we are the guardians of Earth then, we can still be considered as stewards.

References

  • Dolphin Massacre. 2007. Dolphin Massacre in Japan. glumbert.com. Retrieved on April 16, 2007
  • Steller Sea Cow. 2007. Steller’s Sea Cow. Caribbean Environment Program. Retrieved on April 16, 2007
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